Journey w/Harold Franklin
Name:
Journey w/Harold Franklin
Date:
April 4, 2020
Time:
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
Event Description:
A Journey with Mr. Harold Franklin - Auburn’s first Black Student
Talladega, AL — In honor of Mr. Harold Franklin – Auburn’s first Black Student, an event willbe held at Talladega’s Historic Ritz Theater on Saturday, April 4th, 2020 from 11:00 am – 1:00
pm. The event will commemorate his accomplishments and his experiences of desegregating
Auburn University on January 4th, 1964.
Mr. Franklin was invited by Auburn University’s History Department to defend his Master’s
Thesis Research on the history of Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) on
February 19th, 2020, something he was never allowed to do before. After successfully
completing this defense and fulfilling the requirements, Mr. Franklin was awarded a Master of
Arts in History. He plans to return to Auburn University, after a half-century later, to participate
in the Spring 2020 graduation ceremonies on May 3rd and receive his master’s degree.
This planned event at Talladega’s Historic Ritz Theater will consist of local leaders presenting
as well as acknowledging the dedication and perseverance of Mr. Franklin.
Also, this occasion will include an open discussion to share his journey and will have an honored guest.
The discussion panel consists of Mr. Trae Williams (Talladega City Councilman), Dr. Suzanne
Lacey (Superintendent, Talladega County Schools), Dr. Bertis English (History Professor,
Alabama State University), Dr. Keith Hébert (History Professor, Auburn University), and Mr.
Anthony Cook (Executive Editor of Consolidated Publishing). The honored guest will be
attorney Fred Gray, Sr. (Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray, Gray & Nathanson), who
represented Mr. Franklin in the lawsuit against Auburn University.
Admission is free and everyone is encouraged to attend this historic occasion.
For additional information contact:
Talladega’s Historic Ritz Theater
George Culver, Executive Director
256-315-0000
or
Jarvis Elston
205-617-0826
jbelston@bellsouth.net
Visit https://ritztalladega.com/
